Field of Invention
This invention pertains generally to jump ropes and, more particularly, to a type of jump rope commonly known as a speed rope and to a handle assembly for such a rope.
Related Art
Over the years, a number of different types of jump ropes have been provided. However, all of them have had certain limitations and disadvantages.
In the older and more traditional jump ropes, the rope is connected directly to static handles and is unable to rotate independently of the handles. Other traditional jump ropes have eyelets at the ends of the handles and connectors at the ends of the rope which attach loosely to the connectors and permit a limited amount of rotation between the rope and the handles.
Jump ropes of the type known as speed ropes have spinning handles with rotating heads to which ends of the rope are connected. In some such ropes, the heads are mounted in ball bearings and spin relatively freely. In others, they are loosely fitted to the handles in a manner that allows them to rotate, but not as freely or smoothly as ball bearings. In one currently available device, for example, the head is affixed to a metal axle that passes through an opening in a plastic flange in the handle, with the wall of the opening serving as a bearing surface, and a nut is threaded onto the axle behind the flange to loosely capture the axle within the handle.
Speed ropes having ball links to which end portions of the ropes are attached are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,789,809 and 8,136,208. These ropes have balls that are pivotally mounted in apertures in blades that extend from the ends of the handles, and the pivoting or swivelling action of the balls is said to provide greater freedom of movement between the rope and the handles. However, the range of movement is limited by having the balls within the apertures and blades.
So-called weighted jump ropes having metal weights within the handles are sometimes used for various fitness and training goals. Such weights, however, have little or no effect on the spinning action of the rope.
The types of rope used in traditional jump ropes include braided ropes of natural or plastic fibrous materials, rolled leather ropes, solid plastic ropes, and beaded ropes having weighted beads on braided ropes to add weight and spinning resistance to the ropes. The ropes used in speed ropes are usually wire ropes with PVC or nylon coatings.
The ropes are most commonly attached to the handles by knots, eyelets on the handles and rope, and set screw collars that are mainly used to retain wire ropes in the rotating heads of speed ropes.